


David is Mary's Confidante

by wellthengameover



Series: Sherlock Meta [14]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: A.G.R.A., Analysis, Arthur Conan Doyle Canon References, Character Analysis, Episode: s03e02 The Sign of Three, Meta, Other, Sherlock Meta, Spies & Secret Agents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2015-11-20
Packaged: 2018-05-02 14:40:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5252036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wellthengameover/pseuds/wellthengameover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Oh, he would've needed a confidante...</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	David is Mary's Confidante

Knowing what we now know about Mary’s assassin past, we can pretty much guarantee that this line means that Mary had/has a confidante. It’s what jumps into her mind first. If it was simply a line about Mary being an assassin, Sherlock would’ve referenced it when he talked about other clues that Mary was an assassin in HLV, which he didn’t. The fact that he didn’t when it’s such an _obvious_ clue that she’s an assassin is very suspicious. Mofftisson brought it up and now want you to forget about it - which probably means you really shouldn’t forget about it.

Here’s what we know:

1) David says he and Mary dated “ages ago.” (We don’t know if this is true, but it’s likely at least close to the truth.)

2) Mary got her Mary identity five years ago.

3) Mary and David dated for two years.

4) Mary and David dated during the time Mary had her Mary identity.

5) Mary still likes David enough to invite him to the wedding and seems very affectionate.

6) David responds to Mary’s tweets in under five minutes, suggesting he has her on text alert.

7) David has been “a shoulder to cry on” on at least three occasions.

8) David still wants to be in Mary’s life.

9) David was introduced as a character who was both too large to have been present _only_ in TSoT and unresolved; they just sort of dropped him without giving him a point. There was no real reason to put him in there unless he’s coming back later. Just the fact that he sat at the wedding table with all our people - Mrs. Hudson, Greg, Molly - means it’s pretty likely he’s coming back.

Sherlock suspects that Mary may cheat on John with David, and David doesn’t really calm that worry:

David says this in a way that screams “I’ve still got some kind of interest in Mary.” I think David’s selling Sherlock a small lie - Mary might cheat - so that Sherlock won’t look further for the big lie - assassin and confidante. Mary and David have used this cover the whole time, not just with Sherlock. The “small lie hiding a big lie” is something that this show does a lot. (For example: small lie - Mary is an assassin - hiding a big lie - Mary is Moran.)

Mary does act quite affectionate with David at the wedding, but since this is Mary, I’m not sure why we assume that this has to be real emotion. If David and Mary’s cover is two people who are dating or used to date and remain friends, _of course_ she’s going to act affectionate with him. In fact, I think the amount of affection she shows to David means that she’s faking it:

_If they were having a secret affair, they would be a lot more careful not to show too much affection._  We know Mary is a really good liar; if she was lying, it would be better. They _want_ people to know their close so it’s not weird when they spend a lot of time together for their assassin-and-confidante-cover.

Having Mary on text alert actually makes _total sense_ if David’s her confidante. Being “a shoulder to cry on” means that Mary’s talking to David about something she’s not talking to John about on a fairly regular basis. We don’t know that it’s personal things; knowing Mary, it’s much more likely that it’s assassin stuff, which is exactly what a confidante does.

**So here’s the David theory:**

1) [Five years ago, Mary moved to England and got the Mary identity to escape the CIA and work for Jim](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/108366970397/i-can-understand-that-the-empty-house-style). David was her confidante when [she faked her death](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/115321183918/how-mary-faked-her-death) and became Mary Morstan.

2) David and Mary pretend to date for their assassin-and-confidante cover. They would’ve been “dating” all of seasons one and two, and perhaps a little longer, which totals to about two years long. The timelines completely match up.

3) Reichenbach happens. [Mary fakes Jim’s death](http://deducingbbcsherlock.tumblr.com/post/79419663554/hi-im-new-here-and-ive-been-engrossed-in-all) and goes deep undercover with John. She has to break off her fake romantic relationship with David. But she still needs a confidante, so she and David act like they’re exes who remain friends: that David’s still into her.

In fact, Birdy Edwards had one friend in the gang he was infiltrating, who sort of helped him escape. (I think both [the Mary is Moran _and_ The Valley of Fear theories are true](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/95870591462/mary-as-moran-vs-mary-as-birdie-theyre-both).)

It seems like David as Mary’s confidante makes David Junior much more likely - but it doesn’t. It actually makes it much _less_ likely. David is villain. He’s going to jail. So if the baby is his, it’s going into foster care - which really doesn’t make the baby situation any less messy. And in that situation, John should really adopt the baby. If he didn’t, it would make him look pretty callous. This would put Baby Watson being raised in Baker Street - [which is never going to happen](http://mild-lunacy.tumblr.com/post/132750041499/why-parentlock-is-very-unlikely). _So David being Mary’s confidante pretty much proves the baby is John’s._ Which means the narrative has to get rid of it [another way](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/96243001107/baby-watson-killed-in-the-season-four-finale). Additionally, [the only David in ACD is an ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventure_of_the_Crooked_Man)_[adultery red-herring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventure_of_the_Crooked_Man)._

**Author's Note:**

> Transcribed from [my meta blog on tumblr](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/my-sherlock-meta). Much more there.


End file.
